


The Final Illusion

by VincentMeoblinn



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 19:32:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4717844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VincentMeoblinn/pseuds/VincentMeoblinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rated for distressing topic. A vehicle contains a victim and no one wants to face the identity of the murderer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Final Illusion

They couldn’t cry. Their tears would contaminate the crime scene, and this was a very active crime scene with the entire BAU and members from several other departments. They were all congregated around a ‘66 Volvo Amazon P130 122S. The back of the car had two holes drilled into it, one into the trunk and the other through the inside of the trunk. Tape around the edges kept the vacuum cleaner hose in place around the muffler and all the way into the back seat. The car was parked facing outward from the parking space on the top floor of the Quantico parking garage to hide the apparatus. The driver was hidden behind a sun visor despite there being no sun inside of the parking garage. Inside he had a restraint over his head and his wrists were cuffed to the steering wheel. Beneath the hood, which was attached to the headrest, was Spencer Reid.

Hotch watched his crew pour over the crime scene, but he was frozen in place. As soon as the analysts were done cataloging the scene they’d pull off the hood and Hotch would have to see his face. Thirty-two years old and he was dead and gone from the world. They wouldn’t hear his jokes, benefit from his enormous intellect, or enjoy an evening laughing and singing after case. He was gone.

“Okay,” Morgan walked up, his entire figure tense with anger, “We know the car has been her all night. It ran till it was out of gas. The cab was full of smoke when rescuers broke the window and… well, it was a hot day. They didn’t have to check for a pulse. Here’s something strange, though. He was cuffed and his head was affixed to the headrest of the car, but what throws me for a loop is he was wearing an adult diaper. What do you make of that?”

“His badge was taped to the inside of the window?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah,” Morgan nodded, “Facing out so it was the first thing someone would see. So I’ve asked Garcia to look for any similar murders and I’m going to head back to the BAU to look through our previous cases personally and see if I can find any recent releases and-“

“No need,” Hotch stated softly, stilling Morgan with his intensity.

“You already got a profile?” Morgan asked, eyes going wide, “We need to-“

“There’s no profile,” Hotch told him.

“Are you kidding?” Morgan asked, “We _are_ working this. I don’t care what anyone else says!”

“Spencer wasn’t murdered, Derek,” Hotch replied softly.

“Are you blind? Of course he was! He was handcuffed to his steering wheel! His head covered and lashed! He-“

“Wore an adult diaper so his fluids wouldn’t damage his beloved car when his body expelled the last of his waste.”

“The hell is wrong with you, man?” Morgan asked in horror.

“Morgan, Spencer was practically a magician. He practiced illusion all the time. One of his obsessions was escapology after he’d been restrained during one of his earlier cases. He could have gotten out if even _one_ of the variables were different. The cuffs were far forward, the seat all the way back, he was buckled in, his head was trapped in a hood and the hood tied to the back of the car seat. Morgan, this isn’t a clever murder, it’s a suicide. Spencer killed himself!”

Hotch stilled, looking towards the team as he realized his voice had been slowly rising. His last words were practically shouted in the echoing chambers. JJ hurried off the scene towards their SUV, sobbing into her sleeve. Hotch didn’t swear, but he wanted to. Instead he headed to the SUV to give her what little comfort he could. He wouldn’t apologize. She was a good profiler, they all were, and he’d only had to glance inside the car to know. Hotch had just said what they’d all been thinking out loud, even if Morgan hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it.


End file.
